Armenia
Gayaneh.chopin / Wikimedia Commons · CC0 · cropped
Armenia is a landlocked country of 29,743 km² in the Armenian highlands, at the southern edge of the Caucasus, with a population of about 2.9 million and its capital at Yerevan. Georgia lies to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south, and Turkey to the west. It is high country almost throughout — a plateau of volcanic uplands cut by gorges, with Lake Sevan at around 1,900 m holding most of the country's fresh water, and Mount Ararat, the national symbol, standing just across the closed Turkish frontier.
The railway is small, compact and unusual in one respect: it is entirely electrified. There are 780 km of track, all 1,520 mm Russian gauge, and the whole of it is worked by a single company, the South Caucasus Railway, which is owned by Russian Railways. Two of the frontiers are closed, so everything international runs north through Georgia — which is why the operator's headline services are a train to Tbilisi and a summer sleeper on to the Black Sea at Batumi. It publishes route timetables in English and sells tickets online.
Rail journeys in Armenia
Good to know
Why do all the international trains go to Georgia?
Because the other two frontiers are shut. Azerbaijan imposed a rail and air blockade on Armenia at the end of the Soviet period and Turkey joined it in 1993; the railways that once crossed those borders have not run since. That leaves Georgia as the only land route out by rail, and it is why a country with a small network nevertheless has two named international services on it.
What is Lake Sevan?
The largest body of water in Armenia and in the wider Caucasus, sitting at 1,900 m in Gegharkunik province. It is the centre of Armenian summer life, and a seasonal railway service runs to its eastern shore at Shorzha — a train whose entire purpose is to reach a lake.
Is the whole railway really electrified?
Yes. All 780 km of it, which is very unusual for a network this size and a legacy of Soviet investment in a country with hydroelectric power and no oil. It means there are no diesel passenger workings to describe: everything that runs, runs on wires.
Are there rail passes for Armenia?
No. Armenia is not part of Interrail or Eurail and there is no national multi-journey ticket. Tickets are bought for the individual train, and the operator sells both its domestic and its international routes through its own website — in English, which is rarer in the region than it should be.